Not so, Lewis proclaimed, because his army of highly-paid competition advisers had told him that’s not how “theories of harm worked” when it comes to competition law.

He was working on the basis that theories of harm - a concept in regulation which tries to assess whether a consumer will lose out if a merger goes ahead - only occur when a customer receives something worse than what’s currently available.

And, if we are to believe Mr Lewis and his opposite number at Booker, Charles Wilson, then the deal will mean bigger and better opportunities for consumers.

But that argument is increasingly falling on deaf ears. Earlier this month, the Competition and Markets Authority flagged that the acquisition of Booker could have a big impact on tobacco wholesaler Palmer & Harvey’s chance of financial survival. Palmer & Harvey relies on Tesco for 40pc of its sales, but Booker also competes in this market.

As The Sunday Telegraph revealed this weekend, all is not well with Palmer & Harvey. The business, which swung to a loss of £6.6m on £4.4bn of sales last year, is in a fresh scramble for £50m of cash ahead of a September deadline.

Palmer & Harvey had originally hired advisers at PwC to hunt for buyers, but interest from rival grocers is waning as prospective suitors take a look at the books and realise the strain that will be put on the outdated business model by Tesco’s Booker deal.

Sainsbury’s was the first to take a look and entered into detailed talks before realising how bad the situation was. Now the grocer is thought to want just a joint buying agreement from Palmer & Harvey.

With no obvious supermarket bidder, turnaround firms are starting to turn their focus to the business. Last time Palmer & Harvey needed cash, in March this year, it couldn’t get financing from asset backed lenders and instead turned to tobacco giants Japan Tobacco and Imperial to act as guarantors in order to ensure that there would still be a distribution network for their products.

The wholesaler could end up being owned entirely by the cigarette makers, or Tesco could have to step in - which would put its Booker deal in jeopardy.

But Palmer & Harvey isn’t the only one in pain. Restructuring firms are weighing the chances of survival for most of Britain’s wholesalers which have survived on wafer thin margins for years. In this market, that business model now seems untenable.

Nisa is also up for sale

Nisa, the member owned wholesaler and convenience chain, is also hunting for a buyer. While the thousands of noisy Nisa members, who own the shops, may be irked about doing a deal that might reduce their independence, they should grab any opportunity with both hands. Sainsbury’s entered exclusive discussions over a month ago and since then there has been silence. The supermarket briefs that it is looking at lots of different options, giving the impression that it might be getting cold feet.

Another opportunity that could be on Sainsbury’s radar is Booths, the so-called 'Waitrose of the north'. As The Telegraph reported earlier today, Booths’ banks have called in advisers at Grant Thornton to review the business as it struggles with its losses. Booths would give Sainsbury’s more exposure in the North West. But like every other opportunity the grocer has pursued so far this year - it won’t be straightforward. Booths remains 96pc owned by family shareholders who are determined that the business remains with a Booth.

Sainsbury’s best bet might be dropping its scattergun approach to defensive deal-making and getting back to retailing.

Breathing life into Aim

The London Stock Exchange's Aim market is quirky. But this is a first for London’s junior exchange. Pharmaceutical research firm RedX Pharma was pushed into administration in May by Liverpool city council who called in a £4m grant given to the business.

The company toppled and shares stopped trading. Now, administrators have sold the firm’s intellectual property to a US firm, Loxo Oncology, and RedX’s shares will start trading again within the next 12 weeks.

It will be the first time a corporate resuscitation has been played out on Aim. The company was trading at 33p-a-share with a market value of £41m before its administration. Given the losses nursed by investors already, I think it may be some time before the shares trade at those levels again.